Biomedical subjects
Paul Dieppe
Publications and source records attributed to Paul Dieppe.
Different patterns of illness-related interaction in couples coping with rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE: To learn more about the effect of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on couples' relationships and how couples manage the illness within their dyad. METHODS: Eight women with RA (ages 31-60 years) and their partners, and 4 men with RA (ages 43-75 years) and their partners were recruited from the rheumatology case load of a hospital in the UK. Interpretative phenomenologic analysis was used for data collection and analysis. During semistructured interviews, couples were asked about the effect of RA on their lives and relationship. RESULTS: This study found clear differences in the way couples managed the illness of one partner and in the nature of their illness-related interactions. Based on these differences, the couples were allocated to 1 of 3 groups: the shared illness management group (SIM), the ill partner in charge group (IPIC), or the conflict over management group (COM). In the SIM group, both partners attended appointments and shared decisions about illness management. In the IPIC group, the ill person claimed and was conceded the right to make autonomous decisions about illness management. In the COM group, the well partner was dissatisfied with the way the ill person was managing the illness, and conflict resulted. CONCLUSION: Heterogeneity exists in the intradyad management of RA. Identifying each couple's style of illness management could make medical consultations and education programs more responsive to the needs and preferences of patients and their partners. Dissatisfaction of either partner with illness management and resulting conflict could be addressed, with benefits for both partners and possible improvement in disease management.
The effects of surgical volumes and training centre status on outcomes following total joint replacement: analysis of the Hospital Episode Statistics for England.
OBJECTIVE: Previous work from other countries has shown a significant inverse relationship between the number of some surgical procedures undertaken in a hospital and in an adverse outcomes. In the light of the changing nature of the provision of joint replacements in the United Kingdom, we have examined the effects of surgical volumes and the presence/absence of training centre status, on outcomes following total joint replacement (TJR) in England. METHODS: Analysis of the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) on all hip/knee joint replacements in English National Health Service (NHS) trusts between financial years 1997 and 2002. Exposures explored were the volume of hip/knee replacements per annum in an NHS trust, training centre status and whether the admission was routine or emergency. Four surrogate measures of adverse outcome were assessed: 30-day in-hospital mortality, length of stay in hospital, readmission within a year and surgical revision within 5 years. Age and sex were controlled for as potential confounders. RESULTS: Data from a total of 281 360 hip replacements and 211 099 knee replacements were examined. HES data show that the numbers of TJRs performed in low volume trusts are small and decreasing. Adverse outcomes were also uncommon. Nevertheless, significant associations between adverse outcomes and low volume units, and better outcomes in training centres, were detected. For example, the odds ratio (OR) for in-hospital death within 30 days of hip replacement in trusts doing <50 hip/replacements per annum is 1.98 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.13-3.47] compared with trusts doing 251-500 operations/annum. Similarly, surgery in non-training centres is more likely to result in mortality than that in training centres (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.05-1.48). The examination of surgical revision indicated adverse outcomes in higher volume units; this may be due to case-mix. CONCLUSION: In England, there are fewer adverse events following TJR in high volume centres and in orthopaedic training centres. Standardization of procedures may account for this finding. The data have implications for private practice in the United Kingdom and for the current move to undertake TJRs in Independent Sector Treatment Centres.
Behavioural medicine: changing our behaviour.
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Associations between pain, function, and radiographic features in osteoarthritis of the knee.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the associations between pain, loss of function, and radiographic changes in knee osteoarthritis (OA), taking into account both the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral compartments. METHODS: Both knees of 167 community-based patients with OA in at least 1 of their knees were assessed. Pain was measured by visual analog scale, and function was assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. Anteroposterior standing radiographs with the knee in extension and lateral 30 degrees flexion were obtained and assessed for the Kellgren/Lawrence score and for individual features (osteophytes, joint space narrowing, and subchondral bone sclerosis) in each compartment. RESULTS: Knees with structural changes in both compartments were more likely to be painful and to be associated with loss of function than were knees in which only 1 compartment was affected. The individual feature most strongly associated with pain was subchondral bone sclerosis. CONCLUSION: Studies exploring the associations between structural and symptomatic knee OA need to include an assessment of the patellofemoral compartment, and individual radiographic features rather than a global severity score should be considered in these studies.
Osteoarthritis: rational approach to treating the individual.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of joint disease and the leading cause of pain and physical disability in older people. Risk factors for incidence and progression of osteoarthritis vary considerably according to the type of joint. Disease assessment is difficult and the relationship between the radiographic severity of joint damage and the incidence and severity of pain is only modest. Psychosocial and socio-economic factors play an important role. This chapter will discuss four main guiding principles to the management of OA: (1) to avoid overtreating people with mild symptoms; (2) to attempt to avoid doing more harm than good ('primum non nocere'); (3) to base patient management on the severity of pain, disability and distress, and not on the severity of joint damage or radiographic change; and (4) to start with advice about simple measures that patients can take to help themselves, and only progress to interventions that require supervision or specialist knowledge if simple measures fail. Effect sizes derived from meta-analyses of large randomized trials in OA are only small to moderate for most therapeutic interventions, but they are still valuable for patients and clinically relevant for physicians. Joint replacement may be the only option with a large effect size, but is only appropriate for the relatively small number of people with OA who have advanced disease and severe symptoms. The key to successful management involves patient and health professionals working together to develop optimal treatment strategies for the individual.
Research in osteoarthritis.
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Complicity theory: an explanation for the 'coxib problem'?
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What is successful ageing and who should define it?
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What do osteoarthritis health outcome instruments measure? Impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction?
OBJECTIVE: To explore whether commonly used osteoarthritis (OA) health outcome instruments (and items) are measuring single or multiple health outcomes using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) definitions. METHODS: Ten expert judges allocated 342 items from 13 instruments to one or more ICF construct, i.e., Impairment (I), Activity Limitation (A), and Participation Restriction (P). One-sample t tests were used to classify each item as measuring uniquely I, A, or P or some combination (i.e., IA, IP, AP, or IAP). RESULTS: Overall, 12 of the 13 instruments had items that measured a combination of outcome domains (i.e., IA, IP, AP, or IAP). Only the American Knee Society Score (AKS) had all items uniquely measuring either I or A. The instrument with the best representation of items for Impairment was the AKS, for Activity Limitation the WOMAC and Lequesne knee index, and for Participation Restriction the Disease Repercussion Profile. CONCLUSION: All the existing OA outcome instruments, except one, had some items that were assessing more than one health outcome. Use of these instruments may either mask true treatment effects or make an effect difficult to attribute if the content is unclear. We determined which instruments were the best for measuring each health outcome. To improve the assessment of health outcomes in OA, new instruments that uniquely measure the 3 ICF constructs should be developed and all 3 should be included in relevant studies.
"Tu" or "Vous?" A European qualitative study of dignity and communication with older people in health and social care settings.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the experiences of communication between older people and health and social care providers in six European countries. METHODS: Focus groups were carried out with groups of older people (91 focus groups, 391 participants), and health and social care professionals (85 focus groups, 424 participants), in order to gain insights into concepts of good communications. Data collection and analysis continued concurrently according to the method of constant comparison. RESULTS: Different styles of communication between professionals and older people were found to be capable of enhancing or jeopardising dignity. The use of appropriate forms of address, listening, giving people choice, including them, respecting their need for privacy and politeness, and making them feel valued emerged as significant ways to maintain older peoples' sense of self-worth and dignity. Despite being aware of good communication practices, health and social care professionals often failed to implement them. Lack of time, staff, resource scarcity, regulation and bureaucracy were cited as barriers, as was a lack of awareness and effort. CONCLUSIONS AND PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings have important implications for health and social care professionals when they engage with older people.
Characteristic and incidental (placebo) effects in complex interventions such as acupuncture.
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Disease modification in osteoarthritis: are drugs the answer?
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Derek Willoughby: an appreciation from a clinical rheumatologist.
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Effects of emotional disclosure on psychological and physiological outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an exploratory home-based study.
The effects of an exploratory, home-based emotional disclosure intervention on psychological and physiological outcomes were assessed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Patients were randomly assigned to a disclosure group (n = 19) in which they wrote/talked about traumatic personal experiences, or to a control group (n = 15) in which they wrote/talked about the events of a particular day. Participants undertook these tasks for periods of 20 minutes on 4 consecutive days. The disclosure group demonstrated increases in negative mood and objective markers of disease activity at 1 week post-intervention. However, there were significant trends for the disclosure group to demonstrate minor improvements in mood and stability in disease activity, compared with the control group. These group differences appeared to be due to deteriorations in the control group more than improvements in the disclosure group.
Adapting the randomized consent (Zelen) design for trials of behavioural interventions for chronic disease: feasibility study.
OBJECTIVES: Standard randomized controlled trials of interventions for chronic conditions that involve behavioural change, or that are highly desired by participants, are difficult to undertake because of problems with recruitment and contamination. Alternatives include cluster-randomized trials or pre-randomization designs such as the Zelen design. The aim here was to develop a pre-randomization design that would overcome ethical and methodological problems associated with the conventional Zelen design, and permit the rigorous evaluation of a complex package of care, involving physical therapy and behavioural changes, for patients with painful patello-femoral osteoarthritis of the knee joint. METHODS: Eligible patients were first consented to a one-year observational study of their arthritis. They were subsequently randomized into intervention and control arms. Those in the intervention arm were then asked if they were willing to participate in a further study involving regular sessions with a physiotherapist. Those in the control arm were not told about this, but were followed up as agreed. RESULTS: Eighty-seven patients consented to the observational study, 43 of whom were subsequently randomized to the intervention arm. All 43 consented to the intervention, although five of these did not receive the full package of care. Assessments were carried out at five months and one year on 82 patients, and concealment was satisfactorily maintained in the majority. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that this study design could potentially offer an acceptable compromise between the need for scientific rigour and the ethical imperative of fully informed consent in trials that involve behavioural change or interventions that patients might want to obtain.
Factors associated with change in pain and disability over time: a community-based prospective observational study of hip and knee osteoarthritis.
BACKGROUND: Hip and knee osteoarthritis are frequent causes of primary care consultations. They are considered slowly progressive disorders, often resulting in severe pain or disability and the need for joint replacements. There have been few longitudinal studies of progression to inform individual prognoses in primary care. AIM: To describe the degree of progression and investigate predictors of change in hip or knee pain and disability. DESIGN OF STUDY: Prospective community-based cohort. SETTING: An age-sex stratified survey of 27 000 people registered with 40 general practices in Avon and Somerset yielded 2437 reporting hip and/or knee symptoms at baseline (1992-1994). A 25% random sample of 587 individuals was followed up between 1998 and 1999. METHOD: Pain or disability was measured at baseline and followup using the New Zealand score. For the worst joint according to the New Zealand score at baseline, hip and knee problems were analysed separately. Regression models ascertained characteristics of nonresponders and factors associated with change in scores. Seven sociodemographic, seven comorbidity, and two healthcare utilisation variables were considered. RESULTS: Generally pain and disability worsened over the 7 years, but 35% and 29% of those initially reporting hip and knee pain respectively had improved. Reporting "other health problems" was associated with greater deterioration for both hip and knee disease, as was cardiovascular morbidity for hip disease and lower social class, being retired, hypertension, and higher body mass index for knee disease. Deteriorations in scores were strongly associated with individuals consulting their GP about joint problems. CONCLUSION: Osteoarthritis does not invariably deteriorate, but when it does social as well as biological factors appear to be important. These findings may aid outcome prediction. Future research on osteoarthritis should be conducted within a biopsychosocial rather than a purely biological paradigm.
Balancing benefits and harms: the example of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
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